Venezuelan auto industry in free fall amid economic woes

VALENCIA, Venezuela Aug 8 (Reuters) - Though it is the
middle of the work day, the Jeep assembly plant in the central
Venezuelan city of Valencia is empty, the machinery still.

The factory, which once employed more than 1,000 workers,
made its last car five months ago. Now assembly lines at the
plant, located in the oil-rich country's industrial heartland,
are quiet. Workers were sent home after raw materials ran out.

Venezuela's economic crisis threatens to paralyze what was
once South America's third-largest automotive industry, as
stagnation in oil production and a badly managed currency
control system stymie private businesses' access to foreign
currencies and ability to import supplies.

Like Chrysler, a subsidiary of Italian company Fiat
, plants belonging to Ford, General Motors,
Toyota, Iveco, part of CNH Industrial ; Mack,
a subsidiary of Swedish Volvo ; and Mitsubishi
are all operating at minimum capacity.

Production in 2014 has fallen 83 percent year-on-year, with
just 7,000 cars built, compared with some 43,000 made during the
same period last year.

Only 876 vehicles were produced in July, an 87 percent
plunge from the same month in 2013, according to the Venezuelan
Automotive Chamber.

The auto industry says it is owed $1.9 billion in dollar
liquidations by the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
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